


On The Bright Side

by ObscureReference



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Children, Established Relationship, M/M, Multi, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 17:52:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13172130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObscureReference/pseuds/ObscureReference
Summary: He realized, as Nina recovered from the surprise and began squirming under his arm again, that he was staring at the shattered remains of the orb the human Anankos had given him. The orb that would take him home at any time. That was what that magical energy had been—an intense wave of condensed magic that had finally been freed of its container, unused.Selena and Laslow had their own copies, of course, but…“Oh,” Odin said.





	On The Bright Side

**Author's Note:**

> Kid!Ophelia is mentioned several times, but she never makes an appearance, so I didn't tag her. She's playing out of sight pretty much the entirety of this fic, but trust me when I say she's having fun.
> 
> A little bit of canon divergence in that here, each of the Awakening Trio have their own orb to return home while in canon there's only the one.

Odin dropped low and snagged little Nina around the waist with one arm, approximately three child-sized steps before she would have gone tumbling down the stone stairs.

Nina was a stick-like child with her father’s metabolism, but that apparently hadn’t stopped her from pillaging an unfortunate someone’s belongings yet again. Whatever trinket she’d been holding flew out of her hands and into the air as he pulled Nina up and off her feet. He heard a puff of surprised breath in his ear as he swung her up. The trinket twinkled in the air for just a moment before it shattered at the base of the steps.

“No!” Nina wailed. “I wanted that!”

She kicked her legs out as though he was simply going to drop her to the floor and let her go on her way.

Odin was definitely not going to do that. Niles was probably looking for her by now. “Nina—”

A delayed burst of magic washed over them in a solid wave. Nina yelped, freezing. Instincts kicking in, Odin pulled her even closer to his chest to shield her and twisted so his back took the brunt of magical pressure, but by the time he got into position, the magic had already passed.

Odin felt the air clear of static as the magic dissipated. He still waited an extra beat to make sure there was really no danger before he finally uncurled from Nina. He pulled her mostly under one arm so his other was free, in case he had to move quickly. Eyes comically wide, Nina didn’t protest.

Odin turned, ready for a fight.

There was nobody there.

Nothing looked out of the ordinary at all, except for the pile of broken class at the foot of the stairs.

Odin blinked. He untensed, squinting at the glass. The way it shimmered in the sunlight looked awfully familiar.

He realized, as Nina recovered from the surprise and began squirming under his arm again, that he was staring at the shattered remains of the orb the human Anankos had given him. The orb that would take him home at any time. That was what that magical energy had been—an intense wave of condensed magic that had finally been freed of its container, unused.

Selena and Laslow had their own copies, of course, but…

“Oh,” Odin said.

Nina pressed her palm against his chin and pushed. She was about as strong as a puppy. Odin gently grabbed her wrist and pulled it away from his face.

“Nice try,” he said. “Maybe in a few years—Oof!”

Her foot finally caught him in the stomach. It surprised him more than it hurt.

Nina froze again. Apparently it had surprised her as well. There were tears in the corner of her eyes. From the magic? From thinking she’d hurt him? From being caught or just plain overwhelmed? Odin didn’t know.

He couldn’t help but sigh, very aware of the remnants of his only connection to home still shattered below him. He wasn’t sure how to feel. There was a tingling along his spine he couldn’t quite place.

There was a flash of movement in his periphery. Odin turned.

“Forrest,” he said. “I can see you there. Come out.”

Forrest’s very round face poked out from behind the corner again. He tiptoed carefully into full view, looking rightly ashamed of himself.

Odin stepped forward to meet him and set Nina down by Forrest’s side. She looked unhappy, but she didn’t run. Odin reminded himself to keep a close watch anyway. Nina never liked being caught when she was in trouble. Not that most kids did, but Nina was good at making herself scarce when need be.

Odin crouched so he was at eye level, keeping his voice steady. “Does anybody want to tell me why you were in my room?”

Forrest squirmed. Nina stared at her feet.

“Come on, guys,” Odin coaxed. “You know I have to tell your fathers anyway, but it’ll be easier if you tell me now.”

Nina all but glared at her shoes, her mouth shut tight. Forrest squirmed harder.

It had long since been decided that he should use his “normal” way of speaking when it involved serious talk with the kids. It was a distraction and usually went over their heads when he was trying to make a point. At this moment, however, Odin didn’t feel particularly inclined to use theatrics anyway.

Forrest broke first, of course.

He blurted, “Ophelia said—”

“Shut up!” Nina hissed.

“Ophelia said your stuff was better than our dad’s stuff and Nina told her to prove it—” It was a little difficult to understand Forrest with how he rushed and the childish slur of his words. He had trouble with R’s especially. “An’ Ophelia said you had magic things and your rocks were even prettier than hers but we weren’t allowed to see it, but Nina said—”

“It’s okay, Forrest,” Odin cut in. “I think I see where this is going.”

So Nina had taken Ophelia’s words as a challenge. Odin had moved the orb to his bookshelf shortly after Ophelia had been born, finding the best place to hide objects he didn’t want curious children to go looking for was to keep them in plain sight, just out of reach. It was better than her digging through a chest of forbidden goods, he’d thought.

The orb had sat several feet off the ground, but he hadn’t anticipated a climber like Nina purposely looking for it. That was his own fault.

He’d have to ask if his own daughter were in on this as well. Even though she wasn’t present, that didn’t say much.

Forrest looked in the direction of the stairs sadly. “I’m sorry about your rock. It was really pretty.”

Though he was the youngest of the three, Forrest had the sickly-sweet routine down pat. It had gotten him out of trouble with less familiar maids more than once, though he wasn’t much of a trouble maker in the first place. Usually it was more trouble by extension. His remorse felt genuine now, though.

Odin smiled at him, just a little sad, though not really sure what for. “I’m sorry too.”

He looked at Nina and waited.

“Yeah,” she said, still not looking him in the eye. He thought he saw her shoulders slump, just a little. It was good enough for him.

“Okay.” He rose to his feet. “How about we find your father’s now?”

They both frowned, miserable, but neither of them fought the decision. He had to drop them off and then find Ophelia. She was supposed to be with “Uncle Laslow”, but maybe she’d gotten into some trouble of her own too.

As if summoned, Niles rounded the corner, his good eye darting around the hallway in search of something. When his gaze settled on Nina, he stood a little straighter and smirked.

“What do we have here?” Niles drawled. “Two little troublemakers, I see.”

Nina crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air. Niles’ smirk turned into a fond smile.

“Hello, Father,” Forrest said quietly. He was holding Odin’s pantleg loosely.

“Hello, Forrest,” Niles greeted in return. He bent down and scooped up Nina. She didn’t look happy about it, but her face sank into his neck as though she were suddenly exhausted. “You ran away when I specifically told you not to. You know what that means?”

Nina groaned into his shoulder.

“That’s right. No dessert at dinner.”

She groaned again.

Niles looked down at Forrest. “You’re in trouble too, Forrest. Participating in your sister’s schemes counts as breaking the rules. No dessert for you either.”

Forrest nodded, accepting his fate. He released Odin’s leg and took Niles’ offered hand, though Odin doubted he’d run away at this point.

Then Niles finally looked at Odin. “Have they run you ragged yet?”

Odin smiled.

“Not quite,” he said. He’d had to watch Nina, Forrest, and Ophelia all at the same time before. _That_ had run him ragged. Nothing else short of that could compare.

Niles made a sound of acknowledgement. “How did you manage to find them? I must admit Nina distracted me with a few well-placed marbles…”

There was a story there, but rather than ask, Odin said, “More like they found me.”

Niles raised an eyebrow. Forrest and Nina both looked like they wanted to disappear.

Odin rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t like getting the kids in trouble when they were already in sour moods, but this wasn’t something he could keep a secret.

“Ah, Niles,” he started. Niles was already frowning, so he must have noticed Odin’s hesitation and lack of flare. Odin smiled to make up for it, for some reason wanting to make Nina and Forrest’s rule breaking seem less important than truthfully was. The thought of the broken glass tickled at the back of his mind.  “I’m afraid those two have been creating a little more mischief than would first appear.”

“Oh?” Niles looked at Nina, who did not look back. He looked down at Forrest, who also did not look back. “What did they do this time?”

“They snuck into my room.”

Niles was immediately frowning. Probably knowing Nina was reluctant to answer, he looked to Forrest for confirmation.

Forrest nodded, and Niles grimaced. “My apologies, Odin. I’ll do my best to be tricked less in the future. Leo and I will have a talk with them tonight about privacy as well.” Nina groaned loudly, but the fight had long since left her. “Did they break anything?”

A difficult question. Odin shook his head.

“It was nothing, really.” He attempted to skirt the question. “There’s some broken glass, but I’ll sweep that up once we’re done here. It was mostly a casualty in the crossfire.” He tried to sound lighthearted. “I simply don’t want them to hurt themselves by going through my things and finding something not particularly child friendly.”

That was the truth, at least. There wasn’t much in the way of particularly dangerous items that Odin kept in his room, and what little he did have had been stored away long ago for Ophelia’s sake. However, Nina and Forrest had proved his confidence wrong this afternoon.

This was usually where Niles would have made a joke about the things in Odin’s room being more “adult friendly” instead, but he’d learned to clean up his act when the kids were around. He would have absolutely teased Odin if the children were absent though.

Odin was very fond of him and Leo both.

Instead of teasing, Niles’ frown deepened. “I understand. I apologize again for not keeping a closer eye on them.”

“Why so formal, friend?” Odin clapped Niles on the shoulder, the one Nina wasn’t leaning on. “You’re forgetting that I have Ophelia to watch over as well. You cannot keep a perfect eye on them every moment of the day.”

“True,” Niles sighed. “But I hoped they would have known better by now.”

Odin placed a hand over his heart. “The trials and tribulations of parenthood.”

“So it seems.” A beat passed, the air filled with something Odin couldn’t quite place, and then it was gone. Niles said, “Let me know if you need help cleaning up any mess these two made. I’ll let Leo know what Nina and Forrest have been up to.”

Odin nodded. “I’ll see you at dinner.”

They would have eaten together anyway, probably, but there were times when they hadn’t, especially a few years ago. The routine was enjoyable for the kids, though, and Odin couldn’t deny he liked it too.

He watched Niles go and then spent longer that he would have liked to admit looking at the shimmering, useless pieces of the orb before he wandered off to find a broom.

 

 

 

Later, Odin listened as Forrest and Nina apologized for sneaking into his room. Leo and Niles had obviously put them up to it, but both of them sounded suitably regretful, Nina included.

Odin told them it was alright.

 

 

 

As it turned out, Ophelia did not get any dessert at dinner either. She and Odin had a long talk about the word “privacy” and showing-off to others.

 

 

 

A few days later, Niles boxed Odin into a little alcove and said, “You’ve been acting strange the past few days.”

“Have I?” Odin asked. He knew he had. Niles knew it too.

“That so-called trinket the children broke…” Niles deliberately trailed off and let the silence settle before he continued. “It wasn’t just a trinket, was it?”

“It was nothing.” Odin fell into the same pitfall as the children and avoided Niles’ eyes. He caught himself, but it was already too late. Still, he purposely caught Niles’ eye after to make up for it. “It was my own fault it broke, really. It slipped out of Nina’s hands when I caught her.”

“That wasn’t my question,” Niles said.

They looked at each other, caught in a stalemate. Odin’s mouth twisted. He didn’t think Niles would let this one go.

“It was just…” He swallowed the urge to sigh. “A last connection to my homeland, that’s all.”

Odin didn’t feel sad about it. Not really. But he felt _something_ , and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. A little empty, maybe. It itched.

Niles nodded, looking contemplative, and disappeared as suddenly as he came.

Odin looked out the window for a while, deep in thought.

 

 

 

He shook off the feeling after that. The days helped the memory fade from his mind, and soon the empty space on his bookshelf where the orb used to sit was replaced with another book and one of Ophelia’s toys.

Even so, it wasn’t long before the topic came up again.

Odin slouched on top of the battlements, resting his forearms on one of the parapets as he stood watch. It was his turn to stand guard on top of the castle, but there wasn’t much call for alarm tonight. No trouble had been stirring recently, no new threats afoot. His guard was still up, of course, but it was only Odin and the stars and the open night sky.

Behind him, somebody coughed.

Odin turned his head to look. Despite the late hour—or maybe because of it, since Forrest and Nina were had likely long since been put to bed—Leo had come to join Odin in the night air.

“Lord Leo? What brings you out here?” He struck pose number thirty-seven, his cape thrown out behind him. “Some secret mission that needs accomplished, perhaps? One of such import and dreadful circumstance that it can only be said here, in the dead of night, lest some foul evil overhear? Of course only I, Odin Dark, could handle hearing such words whispered in my ear.” He glanced over his shoulder to make sure nobody was sneaking onto castle grounds while he was distracted and then, assured no one was there, he continued, “Rest assured, my lord, I shall travel a thousand—nay, ten thousand—leagues to accomplish any task you give me.”

Leo waited patiently until Odin was done, and Leo only looked half as tired as usual when he finished.

“That’s very reassuring, Odin,” Leo said dryly. “Thank you. However, I did not come up here to give you a task.”

“Really?” That was almost disappointing. The war had ended years ago, though, and with the prosperity for Nohr, Hoshido, and Valla that followed, Odin had more than enough time to grow used to even less flashy, spur-of-the-moment missions. Plus, he had a daughter to look after now. “Then what brings you up here?”

Leo joined him by the parapets, standing tall and straight. “It occurred to me that you and I have not seen much of each other recently, aside from dinners. Do you mind the company?”

As though Odin would ever say no. “Of course not.”

Leo nodded. A pause stretched out into a comfortable silence, and Odin had begun to relax in the wake of Leo’s presence right when Leo said, “Niles told me that object Nina and Forrest took from your rooms was important to you.”

Of course he had. Odin tried not to wince. He’d mostly put that behind him by now.

“It was my fault,” Odin said again, the same thing he’d told Niles. “They shouldn’t have taken it, yes, but Nina only dropped it when I caught her. If I had been more careful, its breaking might have been avoided. It is neither Nina nor Forrest’s fault that it broke.”

“But it was important,” Leo persisted.

He’d already admitted as much to Niles, so there was no point in lying now. “Yes.”

“What was it?”

Odin shrugged. “It was a memento of another time—”

“Odin, be honest,” Leo said. He was frowning.

Again, the war had long since ended. The topics of teleportation and other worlds, what with the obscured existence of Valla that had gone undetected and unremembered for so long, had long since been breached by the others. Valla and Anankos’ magic had been quite the inspiration for wild imaginations. Selena, Laslow, and Odin had discussed coming clean a time or two. The idea was appealing.

But they hadn’t.

Odin hesitated.

“It was… something that would have allowed me to go home,” he settled on.

“That would have allowed you to go home?” Leo echoed. He raised his eyebrows. “Was it an heirloom of some kind? Or an important artifact?”

Odin didn’t answer. “It was important,” he said, shaking his head. “But it doesn’t matter. There are other ways I can return, if I really wanted to.”

Not many. Two, to be exact. But they existed.

Leo turned that over in his head for a moment.

“Do you want to?” he eventually asked.

It was the obvious question, when Odin thought about it, but it still caught him off-guard. He hadn’t expected it at all.

“Not at all,” he said honestly, straightening up. “Have I done something to imply I want to leave Nohr or your service? Because I assure you, my lord, that’s the last thing on my mind.”

“Please, Odin,” Leo said. “We are in private. You can drop the formalities for now.”

Odin often used their formal titles without realizing it. He liked the way they sounded in the air, but leaving them behind wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. It happened, occasionally.

Turning his thoughts into words was a little more difficult.

“I’m not sure I understand what you’re asking,” he said slowly. “Why would I want to leave?”

Leo fixed him with a look. “Maybe because Niles says you’ve been moping about the destruction of an object that would have granted you passage back,” he said.

“My—Leo, I have never moped a day in my life.” He didn’t think he’d been _that_ bad. “Laslow, on the other hand…”

“You haven’t been yourself,” Leo pressed, not quite an accusation. “I’ve heard reports that your monologues and speeches to open air have gone down significantly as of late.”

That might have been true. Odin had been doing a lot of stargazing recently instead. Niles would have been proud.

“I was never _upset_ ,” Odin protested. “My feelings are… complicated.”

“But you don’t want to leave?” Leo inquired. He was searching Odin’s face for something. Probably the truth.

Odin shook his head.

“No,” he said. “I know that was a possibility when I first arrived in Nohr, but recently I realized the thought hadn’t crossed my mind in quite some time.” Funny, how something that had seemed so important once had grown less so over time. Perhaps Odin had become complacent. If so, it was a good kind of complacency. “It wouldn’t feel right to rip Ophelia from her home now, and as unfamiliar as it once was, I have grown to think of Nohr as my home as well.”

That made Leo crack a smile, at least. Odin continued, “I am happy my duties as your retainer. I am grateful that we are no longer warring with Hoshido, and I am pleased with the diplomatic events that come with that. I love Forrest and Nina and—” Odin stopped himself. He was getting carried away. “I am happy where I am in Nohr. I couldn’t imagine leaving all this behind now.”

Leo closed his eyes and breathed in. When he opened them again, Odin couldn’t quite place the look on his face.

“Good,” he said. “I’m glad to hear that.”

Odin relaxed. He hadn’t realized he’d tensed.

“I know you know this,” Leo continued, a little softer than his normal voice. “but just as you have a place in Nohr, you have always had a place with Niles and I. There isn’t any pressure for you to change your answer. It is only a reminder.”

At some point, Leo had place his hand next to Odin’s on the cool stone. Their fingertips were nearly close enough to brush, but they did not.

Odin breathed in.

It was an open invitation. One Odin had previously pushed to the side, more out of deference to the fact he might not always be around than pure uninterest.

Actually, he _definitely_ wasn’t uninterested; he just didn’t want to commit to a relationship only to call it off later. That would break all of their hearts, he was sure. So he’d declined, and Leo and Niles hadn’t pushed.

Even now, with his orb broken, he still wasn’t trapped in Nohr. Odin could return to Ylisse any time, so long as he asked Selena or Laslow for use of one of their orbs in place of his own. They would still have one leftover if he did. There was no doubt they’d allow him use if he asked.

But Odin didn’t want to ask. The thought of using the orbs to return to Ylisse hadn’t crossed his mind for a long time, though the possibility had always sat heavy in the back of his mind.

Maybe that had been the problem.

Returning to Ylisse didn’t seem like an eventuality now. Like an obligation he was putting off. His orb was broken, which didn’t mean much for the overall situation, but it also meant everything.

The choice had always been his, but for some reason, Odin didn’t feel the pressure sitting in the back of his mind like he always had. When his orb had shattered on those steps, maybe something else had broken too. A tether he hadn’t realized was holding him back.

Odin blinked. He looked down at their hands. Leo must have noticed him looking—obviously—but he said nothing.

It was possible Odin’s imminent return home was not as imminent after all.  It was his decision in the end.

Besides, “home” was a lot more synonymous with “Nohr” these days.

He pushed his hand forward just close enough for their fingertips to brush and looked up. Leo’s hand felt warm in the cool air.

Leo looked—nearly, not quite—hopeful.

“That,” Odin said carefully. “might be something I’m interested in.”

“Truly?” Leo asked, his voice more animated but also hesitant. “My question pertaining to your interest in staying in Nohr was not my way of telling you to convince me of your earnestness.”

Odin shook his head. “I’ve had a bit of change of perspective recently.”

Leo cleared his throat.

“Well then,” he said. There was a pause. “We should probably get Niles for this.”

Probably.

“He’s not with the kids?” Odin asked.

“Considering the children are asleep, he has probably been listening on the other side of the door for this entire conversation.”

Odin had thought as much.

They were both proven right when the door rooftop entrance to the castle swung open and Niles stepped through, looking a lot like the cat that had just caught the canary. He definitely didn’t miss how close Leo and Odin were to holding hands. He looked confident as could be.

Odin felt his face soften. There’d been a shared interest between the three of them for a long time, but it was one only Niles and Leo had acted on. They’d known each other the longest, even before Odin ever arrived. It felt right. Odin had been happy for them, truly, and content to be the mysterious uncle and well-meaning friend that stood by, but this—this was something he had always denied himself. Until now.

“So,” Niles said, wrapping himself around Leo’s waist. He placed his chin on Leo’s shoulder and smirked. “It seems somebody has had a change of heart. Interested in staying in Nohr long-term, eh?”

That ending tic, the “eh”, was something he’d picked up from Odin, and Odin knew the moment Leo noticed from the way his lips twitched. If Niles noticed, he didn’t let it show. He looked at Odin expectantly.

“So it seems,” Odin agreed.

He still had his shift keeping watch. He had to go down and check on Ophelia when it was over, make sure she hadn’t woken up without him there.

But later. _Later_. There was a promise of something. Something Odin had been denying himself before.

Not that kids digging around his room was appealing at all, but if he had known it would lead to this, Odin might have considered breaking the orb himself. Or at least giving the kids dessert.

**Author's Note:**

> Writing the children as they would be if they lived with their parents and weren't alone for long periods of time (which largely shaped many of their personalities) was hard. Forrest is a super strong character and he stands up for himself a lot in Fates (which I deeply admire), but he also strikes me as a kid who would feel really bad whenever he gets into trouble because it doesn't happen often. 
> 
> Canon Nina, on the other hand, seems to resent her dad because he left her alone in the Deeprealms for so long. Since she's raised with Niles and everyone else here, I wrote her as still being a bit of a troublemaker (though I'd like to use the word "courageous" more), probably in order to get her busy parents' attention sometimes, though that isn't discussed here. Hopefully they don't seem too weird, but they're also pretty young here. So there's some wiggle room between now and them as late teens/young adults.
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment below or hit me up on my [tumblr!](http://someobscurereference.tumblr.com/)


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